Mixed reality headsets are amazing but have a perception problem. Most people, even a savvy Gen Z audience, see them as expensive, complicated and isolating. For a generation looking to make the most of life and experience as much as possible, tech that cuts you off from the world and retreat from reality is bad. Then along comes Meta Quest 3, the world’s first affordable mixed reality headset that lives up to the hype. No more being cut off, or isolation. For the first time people can blend the physical and virtual worlds seamlessly, together. However, demos are almost impossible to encourage and we rely on mainstream media to tell the story of the most technologically advanced, indescribable products ever.

Basically: How could you use mainstream Billboards to demonstrate a technological revolution? Technology that breaks all the rules of the real world, blurring the lines between physical and virtual.

We applied all the principals of immersive technology to familiar poster media. Turning everyday billboard sites, into portals through to the game worlds of our biggest titles; Ghostbusters and The Walking Dead. Thrillboards, the first billboards you can step inside. What at first appeared to be traditional 2D posters revealed themselves as reality-bending 3D portals that beckoned curious Halloweeners inside. Once inside people discovered the scarily immersive worlds of their favourite games. They initially become part of the poster itself, the hero (much to the surprise of onlookers), then discovered an increasingly interactive and immersive theatre experience. 9000Sq ft of spine-chilling immersive game worlds; a Walking Dead Bayou apocalypse and Ghostbusters HQ and Marshmallow room. A thrill ride culminating in the first ever chance to trial of the new Quest 3 headset.

We took inspiration from one of the oldest lessons in advertising - show don’t tell. Previous campaigns and reams of consumer research had taught us, exposition wasn’t enough to explain this headset. If we could blend the real and digital worlds and make the impossible possible, our idea needed to prove it.

We deliberately made an example of the limitations of traditional media by using the most familiar but least interactive media placements; OOH. When every other billboard in the country was plastered with 2D images of Halloween heroes and villains, we created unique 4D billboard experiences that physically invited Gen Z to step inside and become the main character.

Just like the transformation of VR, we took something singular in dimension and created a campaign that blurred the lines between the physical and digital worlds. We didn’t just tell Gen Z about the new technology, it showed them.

We custom built our own media placements on London streets that appeared like everyday billboards. Then using two of our biggest titles; Ghostbusters and The Walking Dead we created the Thrillboards. First of their kind billboards that challenged everything you expect from the medium. What at first appeared to be traditional 2D posters revealed themselves as reality-bending 3D portals which curious Halloweeners could literally step inside and discover the scarily immersive worlds of their favourite games.

As people approached, the 2D posters revealed themselves to be full 3D special build environments.

They could step inside and become part of, initially as hero of the poster scene itself (much to the surprise of onlookers), then further into an increasingly interactive and immersive theatre experience. 9000Sq ft of spine-chilling immersive game worlds that culminated in the first ever chance to trial of the new Quest 3 headset and games.

Gen Z couldn’t wait to step into our billboards, with all available slots filled up days after release and generating a 1.4k waiting list. Those attending left with a totally new understanding of MR. Amongst Gen Z target attendees we saw massive spikes in Meta Quest content relevance (+33pts) and net promoter score (+67pts).

But most importantly, even those that weren’t able to experience it were reached and educated on the headset’s potential. From passers-by watching, to Instagram scrollers, TikTok or the latest headlines, the clear ‘visual language’ of the walk in billboard told our story in an instant.

In 2 weeks we generated 29.1m impressions. The naturally shareable ‘step in’ moment, scare tunnels and headset gameplay all shared across paid, earned and organic social channels, generating press articles, benchmark breaking influencer content and some of LadBible and Meta’s ‘most engaged with’ and most positively received posts ever.